Teen Shot Dead with a Semi-Automatic Gun After Paintball Game Argument

A 16-year-old boy was killed in Pierre, South Dakota, with a .22 caliber rifle

A 16-year-old boy was killed in Pierre, South Dakota, with a .22 caliber rifle

A teenager in Hughes County, South Dakota is facing first degree murder charges in the fatal shooting of a friend after a paintball-related argument.

16-year-old Braiden McCahren of Pierre will be tried as an adult, the Pierre Capital Journal writes. He shot 16-year-old Dalton Williams, a sophomore at the local Riggs High School.

The teen used a .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle, but it is not clear at this point how it got in his possession.

A third boy, known in court documents only as “T.Y.,” witnessed the incident. In an affidavit of probable cause for a warrantless arrest, he is cited detailing that he and his friends had just picked up the gun from the shop, and the suspect was cleaning it.

A discussion about a past paintball game followed. As the argument became heated, the boys started wrestling, at first in a joking manner.

“T.Y. advised that he and Braiden got into an argument about a paintball incident that occurred in the past. T.Y. advised that they began to wrestle around jokingly.

“T.Y. advised that Braiden then went to the front door of the residence close to the kitchen where they were standing and that Braiden retrieved a semi-automatic shotgun,” the affidavit reads.

McCahren first pointed the gun at T.Y, who tried to exit the house, while the victim stood between them. Dalton was shot, after which T.Y. alerted authorities.

“T.Y. advised that T.Y. went toward a sliding door in an attempt to leave the residence but was unable to get out of the door. T.Y. advised that at this time Dalton was standing between T.Y. and Braiden. [...] T.Y. advised that Braiden was facing T.Y. and Dalton and the gun fired and he observed a splatter and then he left,” the court document says.

The Pierre Police Department and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation have launched an inquiry into the incident.